Meta Quest 3S: Affordable VR Headset Review and Comparison

The Quest 3S offers an impressive upgrade for VR enthusiasts at a budget-friendly price.

### Meta Quest 3 vs. Quest 2: A Comprehensive Review of Upgrades and Features
* 🎮 The Meta Quest 3 is positioned as the **most affordable VR headset** since the Quest 2, featuring a lighter design and improved comfort with a **more ergonomic fit for various hairstyles**.
* 👓 While the eyepiece remains similar in size, the Quest 3 offers **better compatibility for glasses** and a **sturdier face cup**, although it feels **slightly flimsier** when attaching glasses.
* 🔊 Notably, the Quest 3 lacks a headphone jack, relying solely on a **USB-C port for charging and audio**, while introducing a **convenient mixed reality button** for easier transitions between VR and color pass-through modes.
* 🕹 The new controllers for the Quest 3 eliminate the plastic tracking ring, making them **more portable and comfortable**, enhancing the gaming experience with titles **exclusive to the headset**.
* 🌍 The Quest 3 excels in mixed reality capabilities, allowing users to **scan their environment and interact with virtual elements seamlessly**, significantly improving experiences like **VR ping pong**.
* 💻 The graphics chip in the Quest 3 provides **faster load times and better visuals**, although it still falls short compared to higher-end devices like the **Apple Vision Pro**.
* 💰 At a price of **$300 for the Quest 3S** and **$500 for the Quest 3** with more storage, consumers must weigh their options based on their needs, especially since the **Quest 2 remains a viable option** for existing users.
* 🕰 While the Quest 2 is officially discontinued, it continues to receive updates, making it suitable for **casual users**, but for those seeking **enhanced performance and mixed reality features**, the Quest 3 is a **compelling upgrade**.

I've Got The Meta Quest 3's meta's most affordable VR headset since the Quest 2. Do you need it? Let's find out. The Quest 3's has a very similar design from the outside as the Quest 2, but it's lighter, and there's less plasticky tech there, significantly less thick. Although when you look at the eyepiece, it's basically about the same size, but it just feels lighter. The headset fits on your face basically the same way as a Quest 2 because it has this elastic strap that you could detach and add other accessories in instead. However, it felt a little more comfy on my head, and it has a little cutout in the back to accommodate a ponytail or, you know, different types of hair. It also feels like the face cup here is much better for my eyes. It fits my wide glasses pretty well, and it feels pretty sturdy. The Quest 3, weirdly enough, feels a little more flimsy when attaching to my glasses. This has a plastic extra

spacer for glasses that comes in the Box. There's no headphone jack this time, which is kind of a bummer. Instead, you have just the USBC port over here, which is also what charges up the headset. You could attach wireless headphones separately that communicate via USBC. There are companies that already sell those. Oh, there's also a brand new button, a mixed reality button on the bottom. So if you want to switch between the color pass-through cameras and VR, you just press that button. I really love that, and it's a lot easier than the double tap on the side of the headset, which is what you have to do on the Quest 2 and on the Quest 3. The other thing that's changed with the Quest 3s are the controllers. The Quest 2 controllers have this plastic ring for tracking, but the Quest 3s, just like the Quest 3, has this smaller controller design, same exact controller, and it feels a little weird not to have the plastic ring, but it's a lot more portable, and um, it has a little

nice thumb rest over here too, which I like. So, I tried playing a handful of games on the Quest 3s compared to the Quest 2. Some of them you can't even play on the Quest 2, like Batman Arkham Shadow. There are also mixed reality experiences that you can do on the Quest 3s. One of them, first encounters that's built in, is this great target shooting game, and it really shows how the Quest 3s can scan your environment in ways that the Quest 3 can and feels pretty amazing for its price, even though it doesn't technically have a depth sensor. Also, the hand tracking on the Quest 3s is better than the Quest 2, something that could come really handy if you're going to be playing things with mixed reality, moving things around, or adjusting Windows without the controllers. You can also see the mixed reality advantage when you're doing things like, you know, VR ping pong. If you're playing 11 table tennis and you create a court that is put into your room, it really feels

like get much more there on the Quest 3s. So let me show you what it's like in our office. So now let's start with Quest 2. Um, you can see behind me on the casting. Um, that's not a perfect representation at all of frame rate or resolution, but it's at least to show you what's going on a little bit. It's a little bit choppy in headset while the casting is happening. But I'm going to load Asgard's Wrath 2, which is one of the beefiest games in the Quest library. Okay, moving around. I'll go to the load here. Here are my hands. Let's cross over, go into the game. It looks fine. It definitely looks lower res. I'm so spoiled by the Quest 3. Yeah, I can see some resolution pop up when I get closer. At distances, it's definitely not as clear. So let's try this out with the Quest 3s. You can already see the color pass-through. It's definitely good enough that I feel like a significant

Improvement in looking around the room and seeing things, and even reading signs and feeling a little more grounded. Yeah, so I mean, I can definitely tell that the graphics on this look better. They definitely look better, but the visuals, like I can still see some pixelated through the display, or a little bit of, you know, rough edges. And that's the optics on this compared to the Quest 3. Here we go. I mean, it feels a little bit faster loading. I wouldn't say it's like shockingly fast loading time, though. I feel like I'm seeing more detail in the graphics and the distance. Things just seem to be moving a little more smoothly, too. So, I'd say it's like getting a nice little graphics boost. It's not going to necessarily stun you, but this is definitely the version I want to play 11 table tennis, which is one of my favorite games on Quest. And you know, the refresh rate on the Quest 2 is great. Like, it supports high frame rate.

and it looks actually really good, but this is a game that's not that graphically intensive. The difference is that the mixed Reality Part is barely passable, just lets me know if I'm going to bump into something, but it looks very roughly overlaid. The graphics don't really look that much different on the quest 3s, but you're going to get a color pass-through camera Improvement, and that is actually a big difference maker. I mean, everything is more fuzzy than per high-end things like Apple Vision Pro, but it's more than good enough. The more there are like Fitness games that have mixed reality built in, this will actually be extremely useful so that you don't accidentally hit things when you're doing workouts and stuff. This helps me feel like I'm in the space and not worry about suddenly running into a sofa or something. So, what are the biggest differences you're going to feel with the quest 3s compared to the Quest 2? Well, the graphics chip inside through that New xr2 Gen 2 chip provides faster

load times, and it should provide much better graphics for games that have been updated for those graphics. And the other thing this has is mixed reality, so those pass-through cameras, which are now color, look a lot better than the blurrier black and white on the Quest 2. I can read things while looking through the cameras at a box or messages on my phone and walk around. Now, I mean, it's definitely blurrier than perfect vision, and it's worse than what you get on Apple Vision Pro, and it doesn't even look quite as crisp as what you get on the Quest 3. But for this price, it's a big leap up from what the Quest 2 has. The games and other experiences that you can play on The Quest 2 that haven't been updated for this new chip and that don't have mixed reality added in may not look that different. They may load faster, but you may find the experience very much the same. The reason the display, the display resolution, and the lenses are the same between the Quest 2

and the Quest 3's same resolution and these fral lenses, which are kind of ribbed on the inside, they have a little bit of blurriness to my eye compared to the pancake lenses that are on the Quest 3, which are much clearer and provide to me a much sharper, crisper look. Plus, the Quest 3's display is slightly better. So, if you're looking for the best optical experience for $200 more, you can get the Quest 3, which also has more storage, four times the storage of the entry model of the Quest 3s. So, to me, that 512 GB of storage and the better optics can make the Quest 3 a really attractive package for $500 or less if it's on sale, compared to the $300 entry price for this. But if you're paying $500, that starts to become a lot of money, and you know, $300 feels like it's creeping towards almost half the price. I mean, not exactly, but you know, it's not an insignificant lower cost.

for people who are looking to buy something really cheap, $300 is like what is Nintendo Switch cost. It's game console territory, and it's a fun gift price. So, for me, the Quest 3 feels like the one that you'd want to get for families and get a lot of great experiences for really not spending a lot of money. But do you need to upgrade? The Quest 2 is officially discontinued right now, but you can still play games on it, and they're still having software updates delivered to it. At some point, the Quest 2 will probably go the route of the Quest 1, where they'll stop having software updates, and it really won't be compatible with a lot of the core experiences. For this current moment, though, the Quest 2 could be perfectly fine for what you do, and you may want to stick with it and play the games. But if you've been looking for games to load better, you're looking for better experiences, play some of the newer games that are no longer compatible with the Quest 2, like Batman Arkham, Shadow, or

If you want to try mixed reality or be able to see things in your world more clearly while doing VR, the Quest 3 is a really good upgrade path. Now that the Quest 3 and the Quest 3S are using the same chips, I'm waiting for them to do more mixed reality stuff and more AI stuff, and do things that kind of reinvent the experience. A lot of VR on these headsets really hasn't changed in the core concept from what it's been like years ago, and I feel like you're not really going to see some of those bigger changes that feel more like augmented reality for another year or two. So if you bought a Quest 3 last year, don't worry about it. That's the better headset, and it's still my favorite VR headset. But if you have a Quest 2 and you're thinking about upgrading, the Quest 3S is a really nice device, but you may not see all the advantages right now. I think next year you start seeing it a

lot more, but then again, at $300, it's an amazing price for everything it includes. And if you're thinking about VR fitness games and other fun stuff like that, it's pretty fantastic. So, those are my thoughts on the Quest 3s, which I think is great. If you have any other questions, make sure to leave them below. And as always, thanks for watching.

Meta Quest 3S Review: $300 Mixed Reality Really Works

CNET is the premier destination for explaining and navigating the changing world around us. Through news, product reviews, price comparisons, and more, we’ll tell you what’s new in the parts of modern life that increasingly matter more — from health, home, and money to tech, culture, and climate — and how to get the most out of them.

CNET

The Quest 3 has a similar design to the Quest 2 but is lighter and less bulky, with a more comfortable fit and a cutout for different hairstyles.

It lacks a headphone jack, using a USBC port for charging and wireless headphone attachment, and features a new mixed reality button for easier mode switching.

The controllers have a smaller design without the plastic ring, offering better portability and a thumb rest, while the Quest 3 also offers improved hand tracking and mixed reality experiences.

The Quest 2's performance is choppy and lower in resolution, especially at a distance, while the Quest 3 offers a significant improvement in color pass-through and overall visuals.

The Quest 3 also provides a smoother loading time and more detailed graphics, making the gameplay experience feel faster and more immersive.

Both headsets support high frame rates, but the Quest 3 delivers a noticeable graphics boost and smoother motion.

Key Differences Between Quest 2 and Quest 3

The Quest 3 offers a color pass-through camera improvement, providing a better mixed reality experience compared to the Quest 2's blurry black and white cameras.

The new XR2 Gen 2 chip in the Quest 3 delivers faster load times and improved graphics for updated games.

While the overall experience for non-updated games may feel similar, the Quest 3's mixed reality feature is particularly useful for fitness games, helping users avoid obstacles during workouts.

The Quest 3 offers clearer optics and a slightly better display than the Quest 3s, along with double the storage.

The price difference is $200, making the Quest 3 an attractive option for those seeking better performance.

The Quest 2 is still functional with ongoing software updates, but may eventually become incompatible with newer games.

The Quest 3 is a great upgrade for mixed reality and clearer vision during VR.

Both the Quest 3 and 3S use the same chips, with potential for more mixed reality and AI features in the future.

The Quest 3S is a nice upgrade from the Quest 2, offering great value at $300, but the biggest advantages may not be seen until next year.